All News

August 01, 2008

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Jay Carter Hints At Dramatic Demo Flight Ahead

There's an old saying which holds, "you can tell a lot about a
man by the company he keeps." If that wisdom can be extended to
businesses, Carter Aviation Technologies is in great company as it
pursues development of its next-generation Personal Air Vehicle
(PAV) prototype.

Want A Coke? That'll Be Two Bucks, Please

As the airline industry continues to be dominated by high fuel
prices and passengers face a multitude of fees and extra charges,
US Airways management recently made the announcement to charge for
non-alcoholic beverages in flight... a decision that isn't sitting
well with the airline's employees, on the front lines of an
increasingly ridiculous fight.

AirVenture attendees packed into Forum 7 Thursday afternoon to
hear an expert panel talk about progress in developing electric
aircraft. Panelists included David Palombo, with AVEOX, an expert
on brushless electric motors and controllers, Pete Buck and John
Monnett of Sonex, Dr. Morton Grosser, an independent Director,
technology consultant and venture capital investor in Silicon
Valley, Randy Fishman, President of Electric Aircraft Corp., and
Erik Lindbergh, a commercial pilot, flight instructor, and grandson
of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. The panel was led by Craig Willen, a
Lifetime member of EAA and committee representative leading EAA's
Electric Aircraft initiatives.

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Many Pilots Could Benefit

From my experience, nothing irritates busy controllers more than
having to repeat themselves... especially at the Class B airports
that have a large volume of traffic. We generally grump off-mike
about paying better attention up there, but it could very well be a
hearing problem.

2008 has already been a year filled with innovation in the
cockpit.]Avidyne chose AirVenture to show off its new Enhanced
Vision and Synthetic Vision upgrades for its Entegra system, now
featuring 15-inch displays. Garmin has been waiting for FAA
approval to turn its G600 avionics system loose in the retrofit
market. At AirVenture, the company was able to announce approval to
install the system in 785 different aircraft makes and models.

Heads For Deployment With Carrier Strike Group

Lockheed Martin recently completed its initial deliveries of
aircraft to the US Navy's first operational MH-60R helicopter
maritime strike squadron, the HSM-71 Raptors, ensuring the squadron
is ready for its deployment with an aircraft carrier strike group.
The San Diego-based pilot and crew departed with the aircraft July
24 for the three-day journey home from Owego, NY.

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2008 has already been a year filled with innovation in the cockpit.
Avidyne chose AirVenture to show off its new Enhanced Vision and Synthetic Vision upgrades for its Entegra system, now featuring 15-inch displays.

AirVenture 2008 Celebrates 50th Anniversary Of Nanchang
CJ-6

One of the longest-produced aircraft models in history, the
Nanchang CJ-6, is celebrating its 50th anniversary Oshkosh
2008. The RedStar Pilot's Association, the owners' group for
the Chinese-built military trainer aircraft, organized the Oshkosh
activities in honor of the golden anniversary with cooperation of
EAA's Warbirds of America.

Sturgell Makes His First Oshkosh Appearance As
Administrator

He came, and he talked... and he left many still unsure of what
kind of FAA Administrator Robert Sturgell will turn out to be,
should he be eventually confirmed for the job he now tenuously
holds with the qualifier "Acting" in front of his title.

New Rules May Help Edge Out Northrop Grumman/EADS

Lawmakers who supported Boeing's bid to build a new fleet of Air
Force refueling tankers advanced a plan in Congress that would
block the Defense Department from deviating from any of its
original specifications in vetting new tanker proposals. The
measure also would bar the Pentagon from giving extra credit to any
proposal that exceeds the Air Force's minimum requirements for the
tanker -- including its size and how much fuel it can deliver to
planes in midair.

Big Plans For Small Glass Panels

Homebuilt and LSA 'glass cockpit' provider Dynon Avionics
provided an early glimpse of its next generation glass-cockpit EFIS
technology at AirVenture 2008 this week. This new system is slated
to be released in phases starting next year, and will offer the
complete, full-panel integration that has formerly only been found
in the most expensive glass cockpit solutions.

Will Be Exclusive Automotive Partner For Annual Event

On Thursday. Ford Motor Company and the Experimental Aircraft
Association announced an extension through 2011 of the automobile
manufacturer's role as exclusive automotive partner of the world's
largest annual aviation event, EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.

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AAI Acquisition Also Announces New CEO

AAI Acquisition -- the Russian-backed successor to the former
Adam Aircraft Industries -- announced Thursday at AirVenture 2008
it plans to resume efforts to certify the A700 twin-turbofan,
very-light jet... at the expense of the A500 piston twin.

Two-Stroke Diesels To Be Tested In LSAs

Powerplant Developments Ltd. (PPD) President and CEO Tim Archer
announced at AirVenture 2008 that a Memorandum of Understanding was
signed just days ago with Italian aircraft manufacturer Costruzioni
Aeronautiche Tecnam S.r.l. Under the terms of their MOU, PPD will
supply one pre-ASTM certificated Gemini 100 100HP engine for
testing on a Tecnam P92 Eaglet LSA.

That's No Typo, Klyde...

ANN Chats With Helo Pilot Charles 'Chuck' Aaron

Every story has a beginning... so what makes legendary
helicopter pilot Charles "Chuck" Aaron's so special? Well, Chuck
will go down in the history books as the first pilot to get his
aerobatic certificate in a helicopter, the Red Bull BO-105 CBS made
by Eurocopter/Messerschmitt Boelkow Blohm (MBB).

Agency Expands Spacecraft's Mission

NASA announced Thursday that laboratory tests aboard its Phoenix
Mars Lander have identified water in a soil sample. The lander's
robotic arm delivered the sample Wednesday to an instrument that
identifies vapors produced by the heating of samples.

Over 250 Residents, Vactioners Rescued From Dolly's Wrath

New Mexico Army National Guard aviators put their hoist training
to the test not once, not twice, but 57 times July 27 after
Tropical Depression Dolly caused flooding in the high desert resort
community of Ruidoso, NM. By the end of the mission, the UH-60
Black Hawk helicopter crews had picked up more than 250 residents
and vacationers.

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Plans To Branch Out To Flight Schools

Light sport aircraft manufacturer X-Air announced Thursday the
addition of Terry Brewer as the Flight Training Program Manager.
Brewer was the architect of the flight-training regime for Columbia
Aircraft (now Cessna), which for its time was the most strident in
the industry providing both standardization and FITS approval.

Aero-Linx!

Aero-Terms!

A system for communication between crew members of an aircraft.
Interphone communications are normally conducted using the same
microphone and earphone speakers used for radio communications. A
selector switch is positioned in such a way that the interphone
signals do not enter the radio transmitter circuits.

"As you know, we've got a proposed policy change for
homebuilts. It's come to our attention that some companies may be
skirting the letter of the law by selling a kit that requires
nothing more than two turns of a screwdriver. For safety's sake, we
just can't allow that. It's not right, and it circumvents the very
safeguards that are put in place to protect everyone in the system.
When we say that '51 percent of the plane has to be put together by
the builder and not the kit maker,' we mean it. In my opinion, 51
percent is appropriate. The aim here of the policy change isn't to
punish. It's for your safety and for the integrity of the
system."